Abstract

MUSHORIWA, Linda. The African Union's quest for a "peaceful and secure Africa": An assessment of Aspiration Four of Agenda 2063. Law democr. Dev. [online]. 2023, vol.27, pp.55-92. ISSN 2077-4907.  https://doi.org/10.17159/2077-4907/2023/ldd.v27.3.

This article undertakes a comprehensive assessment of the African Union (AU)'s Agenda 2063 Aspiration 4: A peaceful and secure Africa and the progress made at continental level towards it. Aspiration 4 is informed by the AU's acknowledgment that the scourge of conflict on the continent plays a significant role in hampering socioeconomic development. Against this background, the article examines the role played by the AU and its regional economic communities (RECs) in response to armed conflict on the continent, as exemplified by the AU and Southern African Development Community (SADC) response to the Cabo Delgado conflict in northern Mozambique. The AU's response to the recent surge of military coups in Africa is also examined, with a focus on the coups in Sudan in 2019 and 2021. The article concludes that the Agenda 2063 blueprint is a useful tool for the continental body when dealing with the scourge of conflicts and unconstitutional changes of governments, which threatens to hamper the AU's developmental agenda.

Keywords : African Union; Agenda 2063; Aspiration 4; peaceful and secure Africa; military coups; regional economic communities; SADC; Sudan; Cabo Delgado.

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